New Seeds
by gracias mr bean
Summary: The Konoha Twelve have blossomed into mature adults, and it is time for their offspring to start a new adventure.  OC
1. Two Seeds

The first time he had gone to the Konoha Ninja Academy, he had just turned six, and the parents of the other children were all whispering excitedly to their children and pointing fingers at him. He had turned away in embarrassment, but his mother held him in place.

"Kazuki Uzumaki, you are the son of the Hokage, and from the Hyuga Clan. Do not let us down," Hinata Hyuga said. She had then marched him despite his protests towards the entrance to the Academy.

He had gotten used to people pointing fingers at his parents. Even in other Villages, there always seemed to be people pointing and whispering to each other about them. But in his uncle Gaara's Village, the people only stood and stared, stopping their activities for the moment as they saw the Hokage and his contingent. The Sand people were _nice_ though, as long as you got to know them well.

But what he couldn't fathom was why the people were now pointing their fingers at _him_. His mother was the head of the Hyuga clan, it was true, and people said that her proficiency in the Gentle Fist technique could even rival that of his blood uncle Neji's. His father was the Hokage, the saviour of the Village. Supposedly his father had been essential in the Akatsuki War just ten years ago. He agreed that there was reason for people to be pointing fingers at them, but why, _why_ were they gawking at him now?

His mother stopped him right at the entrance and gave him a wide smile. "Well now, Uki, remember to do your father and I proud."

"Yes, mama-san," He said.

She looked scandalized. She drew herself up to her full height and put her hands on her hips. "Uki! How many times have I told you not to call me that! Address me properly, if not I'll not cook your favourite ramen today!" She added with a snicker.

"Okay, mama," He sighed.

Adults were all like that. When you misbehaved, all they did was to exercise their power over you. So utterly boring. Though his mother tried to have fun with him most of the time, there were times when she conformed to the stereotype of the stern know-all-there-is-to-be adult.

She gave him a last goodbye kiss on the cheek, and he ran into the academy, feeling happy that he could officially learn to be a ninja at last.

Hinata Hyuga felt her tears running down her cheeks as she watched her son's retreating back. _He is so much like his father_.

--

At the age of five, Kazuki watched his mother wake up before dawn every day to exercise in the yard. She would slowly move from one position to the next, each little movement precise and graceful. He had not thought much of it though, and he expressed his feelings one day to his father.

"Dad, why does Mum wake up so early everyday just to move like a tortoise?"

The Hokage looked at him and smiled mysteriously.

"Aaah, but she _is_ training her Gentle Fist, and it is considered one of the most advanced taijutsu in the world, you know. Your mother just goes through the forms of the Gentle Fist… you haven't seen real training yet," His father said.

With that, he suddenly leaped to her side and jabbed at her face. He had not expected the events that followed.

She twisted in between forms, dodged and counterattacked. And then the real dance began.

They were like twin dragonflies, darting in and out, left and right, and soon he could only see their movements when he strained his eyes.

Kazuki watched, astounded, and gasped aloud as he saw his mother perform a move lightning-quick from her many variations of exercises. Finally, as his mother wrestled his father to the ground and they moved on to their daily rituals of kissing and tumbling about, he fell backwards to the ground, thinking hard.

_So that's what they meant when they said that my Mum was dangerous._ He mused. From that day onwards, he never underestimated his mother again.

--

When he entered his first class most of the seats had already been filled in, and he quickly hurried to the back row, which only had a few free seats. He found himself sitting next to a boy with disheveled black hair.

"Takumi Nara." The boy grinned widely as he introduced himself. "Do you want to see something?"

Kazuki nodded mutely.

Takumi reached into his pocket and retrieved a spider-like toy. "Know what it is? It's my puppet that my Uncle Kankuro made for my birthday! See what it does…"

Kazuki peered closely as he saw five blue chakra strings connect with the puppet. It jumped into life, and scuttled about the table. Takumi gave him a mischievous grin as he maneuvered the spider puppet to the edge of the table. But as he made to spring it onto the girl in front of them, a dark flash streaked through the air, plunging into the puppet. They jumped.

A sleek black kunai stuck out of the broken piece of machinery that once was Takumi's puppet.

"First day at school, and already creating trouble eh, Takumi?" The sensei was an older version of Takumi, just that his hair was tied back in a ponytail. He wore a netted shirt inside of his jacket, with twin earrings, and his laidback posture completed the picture.

"Why don't you and your friend… Kazuki Uzumaki, isn't it… stay back after class for detention, eh?" He gave them a lazy smile.

Takumi groaned as the rest of the class laughed. "How troublesome…"

Kazuki leaned towards Takumi and asked, even though he already knew the answer. "Who's that?"

Takumi whispered back, "That's my dad. Shikamaru Nara. Don't be fooled by him. Even though he looks cool now, he gets scolded daily at home by my mum."

"She's a Sand ninja, you know." He confided in Kazuki.

"OH! So you're Aunt Temari's son!" Kazuki exclaimed.

A shadow crept slowly across their table as Shikamaru leaned over them. With a sadistic smile on his face he said, "Well now, making so much noise in class… let's have you two young gentlemen have another session with me tomorrow, how about that?"

--

Well. He was now thirteen years of age, and labeled as the class joker along with his best friend Takumi. Every time he was Takumi they both got into trouble. The fact was, they never actually _tried_ to get into trouble, but adults kept on singling them out and punishing them for harmless acts like trying to see how powerful their original explosive amulets were. The problem was, they had never expected Takumi's amulet to be so powerful as to blow a hole through the wall of the classroom. But they had not meant to do it at all!

_Just goes to show how scientific research is dangerous, really._ Kazuki thought.

Both of them were now playing Go with Takumi's dad. Their detentions were always like this, playing Shogi and Go with Takumi's dad. Or when Temari-sensei was in charge, they would go off carrying mountains of books for the academy's other teachers. Sometimes she would even have sparring sessions with them.

But the point was, Kazuki enjoyed his detention sessions much more than all the boring lectures and basic training exercises the sensei put them through in class. Right now, they had already lost ten consecutive games to Shikamaru-sensei, but they were in the lead at the moment for the current game.

As he eagerly anticipated Shikamaru-sensei's next move, the door burst open as Konohamaru-sensei rushed into the room.

"Shikamaru-senpai, the Hokage wants to see you and Temari-senpai immediately!"

Shikamaru jumped up and was out of the room before the boys could even react. As Konohamaru turned to leave as well, Takumi asked, "Professor Sarutobi, why does Hokage-sama want to see Dad?"

Konohamaru turned around. "A squad of Sand ninja novices who were scheduled to reach the village today has been kidnapped. The Hokage wants Temari-san, as the Sand ambassador to Konoha, to participate in the rescue mission. Your father would of course be included in it as well."

"Well, I'd better get going. We'll be moving out in twenty minutes."

He smiled at them as he left, but Kazuki noted the slight frown on his forehead. Konohamaru-sensei did not frown. Ever.

That surely meant something was wrong.

The boys looked at each other, and nodded once in agreement.

They were going to follow their sensei on the rescue mission.

--

Takumi raced down the corridor of his mansion. He could feel the adrenaline pumping in his veins. Why had his parents been selected? A squad of ANBU would have been sufficient, if not more capable than Mom and Dad!

He threw open the door to his room, and the item he was looking for was just right on his table. He grabbed it, and sprinted out of his house towards the rendezvous point.

Kazuki was already there, arms folded and whistling in boredom. He immediately perked up as he saw Takumi arrive.

"Found what you were looking for?"

Takumi held up the scroll. "Yeah."

It contained his secret weapon. He took a last look at it, before he stowed it away into his backpack.

"Okay, let's go!!"

And they were off towards the Forest of Death. The gargantuan trees loomed high over their heads even as they traveled through the forest understorey layer. The sounds of battle could be heard in the deceptively quiet forest. They dropped quickly to the branches near the undergrowth.

He could see that many of the enemy ninja were down, and yet a significant number of them were still fighting the Konoha ninja. Fortunately Mom was still up and fighting, albeit with a slight scratch on her forehead, but where was Dad?

Kazuki started to rise, but Takumi quickly held him down.

"We might get in the way. And besides, we would never be able to match up with the enemy Jounin," Takumi explained. "Better to isolate one guy and then attack him together."

Suddenly one of the enemy Jounin flashed to the brach above them. He was holding his left arm, which had a huge gash from his shoulder to his elbow.

_Speak of the devil_. He saw Kazuki activate his Byakugan. The emerald veins popped to the surface around his eyes, giving him a rather owlish appearance.

The enemy ninja had already discovered their presence. He looked down at them.

His headband symbol consisted of two boulders. An Iwa ninja, then.

What a nuisance… his mother would never forgive him if he died.

Takumi pointed to his scroll, and Kazuki nodded.

As Kazuki started exchanging blows with the enemy ninja, Takumi unrolled the scroll.

It contained ten columns, but only two were filled in. The first contained a symbol of a balancing scale, while the second was of a flying bird.

"Justitia, Libertas!" He called.

The first puppet was female: she carried a massive sword and a morning star, a set of weapons very much like a Kusarigama, albeit with the scythe replaced by the sword. The sword had a guard shaped like a balancing scale, and even though it was large, puppets could handle almost any weight after all, so he saw no need to scale down. _Justice_.

_Liberty_. It had a head of a bird – an eagle in fact – and apart from that it had an otherwise normal human torso. It was less than half the height of the first, and its limbs were long and thin.

Chakra strings flew from his outstretched fingers, attaching themselves to the puppets. They jerked to life and he flung Libertas into the path of the Iwa ninja. While Kazuki hit him from the front, the puppet flashed next to him and smashed a paw into his back.

Takumi heard the sound of breaking… wood. It was a substitution!

Suddenly the enemy flashed into existence over his head, and a long knife in his uninjured hand streaked down to impale him. But Takumi twitched his fingers, and Justitia managed to block him from harm with the sword. Barely.

_Jounins are troublesome to fight… and what's more, we're not even Genin!_ Sweated beaded on his forehead. He had to think of a plan.

He made Justitia swing the morning star at the ninja, but he somehow managed to scamper onto the chain and jump off to hit Kazuki in the chest. _Shit_.

He was bloody agile, that stupid Iwa ninja. Libertas flew in to hit him as he dropped to the ground holding his wounded arm. It hit! The explosion of soil from his body blinded Takumi.

_It's a clone! Then where is he –_

An arm burst out of the ground, and grabbed Takumi's leg. An Earth ninjutsu – Inner Decapitation Technique! He was going down! He bunched his fingers and pulled them towards him. Justitia dropped to the ground, severing the hand cleanly at the wrist. This time though, blood sprayed out to splatter Takumi in the face. He had gotten the real one.

Justitia wrapped the chain of the morning star around the stump of the arm, and heaved the ninja out of the ground.

As he flew into the air, Takumi had the puppets glide around him at incredible speed, pulling him into a tree with their connected chakra strings, and Takumi heard a satisfying crack as the head of the ninja smacked hard against the tree trunk.

"Now, don't you try anything funny," Takumi warned.

He quickly checked Kazuki for injuries. He was mostly fine, but he had received a really great strike to the chest, and was unconscious from shock.

All of a sudden, the ground rose up to cover the Iwa ninja in a mud ball. Takumi panicked and frantically pulled hard at the chakra strings. A loud splattering sound could be heard as the ninja was cut into ribbons by the chakra string.

The puppets had reacted strongly to his fluctuating chakra. Blood and entrails streamed out from holes in the mud ball.

_Congratulations, Takumi Nara. You've killed your first man._

Our hero promptly turned around to vomit in the bushes.

A/N: Thanks for telling me Takumi's name varied three times!! Gosh, I really get confused between both their names. Please feel free to tell me about any more name variations, thanks! On a side note: Kazuki means "shining one" or "first of a new generation" while Takumi means "artisan".


	2. Roots

A/N: Sorry for the long time taken to update, but I had my end-of-year examinations recently, just last week (

---

Takumi could still feel the aftertaste of the bile in his mouth as he faced the two scariest monsters he had ever met in his life. His parents.

He could see his mother's mouth moving in speech, but for some absurd reason, the sounds issuing from her throat seemed muted.

_Am I dreaming?_ He wondered.

His father, on the other hand, seemed to be daydreaming. As usual. He made the necessary non-committal noises whenever his mother looked to him for support.

Takumi could see his mother's four tiny ponytails bobbing as she turned once again towards him. He noted that her face was flushed cherry-red with anger, and her eyes seemed half-crazed, somehow. He moved his eyes up to examine her clenched eyebrows.

_They are sorta nice, I guess._ Kind of like the cirrus clouds he liked so much. They were thin and wispy, but exuded an aura of contentment with life, life which a painter granted them through short, swift brushes of white paint against the overly blue sky.

He was… dozing off. Through his half-lidded eyes, he saw his mother snarl, and he seemed to hear from far away: _Are you listening to me?_

A huge metal fan was gaining speed as – thud! It collided with his head. Takumi awoke with a start.

"You weren't even listening!" She glanced at her husband. He was staring blankly at her.

She grabbed a kunai, and slammed it next to his hand, which was against the wall.

"Tell your son not to do it again, alright?" She said through gritted teeth. "I don't know what to do with him anymore… He's just a dreamer like you!"

Shikamaru held a hand to stop her, but she brushed him aside and stomped out of the room.

He turned back to Takumi and winked. "Not to do it again, alright?"

He made as if to go, but Takumi stopped him.

"B… But, you made Mum angry…"

His mother could be such a shrew sometimes…

Shikamaru leaned close to him. "Well, the best part about marriages is that it's fun to try and turn a woman's mood around."

Takumi watched, dumbfounded, as his father gave him another conspiring wink and then exit the room.

--

She took a deep breath as she prepared to walk into the holding room. She had seen all twenty of the novice Sand ninja rescued safe and sound, and after that ordeal she didn't want them to see an intimidating sensei with her face all flushed up with anger.

Her son was twice the puppeteer Kankuro had been when he was thirteen, but Umi needed to get rid of all the bad habits he had gotten from his father.

_Which are the exact same habits and traits which made him attractive to you in the first place_, She reminded herself. _His laidback attitude still has a certain appeal_.

But he didn't need to be such a loser all the time. If he made good use of his genius, perhaps he would not be infamous for being lazy. Gah! How she fumed every time she heard derogatory comments about his slack attitude. Stupid lazy fool of a –

_Wait, I gotta calm down for the kids, _She thought. _Hush… breathe in, breathe out… breathe in, breathe out… You won't be bothered by a fool, now, would you? You need to stay focused… focused. _

Okay. She was ready to go. She stepped into the room. The little kids were… wait, they were already thirteen, weren't they? Why were they all acting like immature toddlers? Running around, screaming, shouting, playing.

She growled under her breath. The bloody noise level was getting to her.

"Atten-tion!" A boy, who looked to be the oldest, she noted, took the initiative.

They snapped to full attention, legs together and hands stuck to their sides, fists clenched.

"Sit down," she said. "Your Genin exams will take place in this evening, so please revise your jutsu and your knowledge of the ninja way."

A girl raised her hand. "But we just got rescued from kidnapping! Surely we should have some time to rest!"

"And you tell me your training isn't enough?! Then I would tell you that you are not worthy of being a Genin, that's all. Class dismissed."

Later as they raced out of class, she sat on one of the chairs, and slouched against the table with her head in her arms. Gosh. Rescuing them, facing her stupid son and even more stupid husband, then facing this bunch of kids again… She felt so worn out she could just lie down here… and sleep the day away.

Temari felt a presence next to her. "Go away." She said with slurred speech.

Strong arms went under her body, and she was lifted from the chair. As she fought him, the person said in his sexy voice, "Hey."

Oh. It was Shikamaru. His teenage whine had matured as he had aged… and she would have been embarrassed to admit it, but she liked his low voice a lot. Temari leaned into her husband's comforting embrace. Hours later, she was snug and comfy in her bed.

--

The Hokage looked down upon his son. Kazuki was resting.

The rise and fall of his chest was steady, and he looked rather peaceful. _One of the bloody times he can keep his mouth shut._ Naruto thought.

He was dressed in his customary orange and black – the dark orange of the coat was only broken by the black flames at the bottom of his coat. Inside his coat he wore a short white robe, which was tied securely over his plain white pants.

The necklace Tsunade-sama had given him hung out over his shirt, and he still had the spiky yellow hair he had when he was a Genin.

_Come to think of it, Kazuki has the same kind of hair as me, not to mention the ingenious schemes he concocts sometimes._ He grinned.

It was hard to keep count how many times Hinata looked at him exasperatedly, hands on her hips, and lamenting the fact that her first son had turned out just like his annoying dad. But his son was having trouble keeping up with his training, and as Kazuki's father, Naruto couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. _Though his intellect and wit surpasses most of his peers, rivaling that of his best friend Takumi, the fact is that Kazuki is struggling in sparring matches even with his weaker peers. _

It was time to take a hand in his training. Although he couldn't do it personally as he would've liked to, but he could give something of value to his son. He reached into the pocket inside his robe, and retrieved the scroll containing the seal for the Flying Thunder God Technique.

That technique had earned his father his nickname – "Yellow Flash" – and Naruto had found the scroll in the vault inherited from his father after the revelation by Jiraiya that he was Minato Namikaze's son.

He put a Shadow Concealment Technique on it – it would only reveal itself when activated by Kazuki's chakra – and stuffed it into his son's pocket.

The door opened slightly.

"Hokage-sama, the ambassador from the Kusagakure has arrived with this year's batch of Grass novices, and the Genin examinations are starting soon – may I humbly request Hokage-sama to give the customary speech to the novices?" Konohamaru bowed outside the door.

"Hold on, I'll be out there soon. By the way, when did the "Konoha Pervert" turn so stolid? Don't tell me your nickname "The Professor" has really gotten to you?" Naruto teased.

Konohamaru scratched his head, "Haven't been out lately, 'cause I was studying some cool new techniques which the Hoshi ambassador showed me last week. This year, all of the villages that we're allied with have brought their novices over for the Genin examinations – Hoshigakure, Kusagakure, and Sunagakure – they're all here."

"Well, that's good to know, but what's more important is – when are you going to propose to Moegi? I married Hinata when I was twenty!"

Konohamaru blushed. "Uhh… Hokage-sama, I'll – I'll check on the novices, yes… I'll check on the novices."

He bowed again, and strode off rather hurriedly.

"Changing the subject won't get you anywhere!" Naruto shouted after him. He looked back down at his son, and patted him where he left the scroll. "Well son, take this as your birthday present."

His birthday had been yesterday, but Naruto had been away visiting other villages. Ever since Kazuki turned eight, they had never been able to celebrate his birthday as a family. The burdens placed on him as a Hokage took him away from his family two-thirds of the time, and now that relationships with other major villages were tenser than ever, Naruto hadn't even managed to see his wife for a week.

_Especially since Iwagakure had launched an attack on the Sand novices._

At least Kazuki had survived his first 'mission' as a Genin. He would miss the Genin examinations later today, but a few prods in Shikamaru's direction from the Hokage would be sufficient to promote his son.

As he left the room, he cast one last glance at his son. _I hope you will make good use of your birthday present, son. Happy birthday._

--

Shikamaru had been absolutely horrified upon waking up. It was already three hours past the start of the Genin examinations, and he, the head examiner, still hadn't gotten to the examination grounds yet. _Bloody troublesome… heck, where are my socks?_

He stumbled halfway to the door while pulling on his socks, and nearly dropped the boots which were dangling from their laces wedged firmly in his armpits. As he hopped one-legged out the door with his second boot half-on, Temari murmured in her sleep.

"Shika-kun…"

Oh heck. She was the temporary in-charge of the Sand novices, now that their senseis were in the hospital recovering from their injuries. She needed to be on the judging council as representative of the Sand, but he felt reluctant to wake her up from her restful sleep.

Temari would sometimes work into the middle of the night, going through huge piles of paperwork which she needed to finish. Maybe it was time to request for some assistants from Gaara soon. They could hardly find time now to… do stuff that they used to do.

His name fell from her lips again. They were nice and plump, and a deep cherry red in colour. She turned onto her side, and an arm encased in the long sleeve of her shirt fell off the bed. The shirt was the pure white of Sunagakure's finest cotton, and some black embroidery coiled around the collarless neck of the shirt dipping down with the slit at the front.

The first time he put a hand on her waist, he had been amazed to find that the cotton of her shirt was smooth as silk. He then inquired about it, and was notified matter-of-factly that she had gotten them from her very own one hundred hectares worth of cotton farms (which she had gotten as her last birthday present from her late father).

His eyes had goggled at that second fact. It was not as if the Nara clan was poor – they owned the largest hunting range in Konohagakure – but she was unbelievingly rich. It was a good deal, really – living with a beautiful heiress who would kill him as much as love him at any time of the day, a good deal indeed.

He knew he had wanted to live an ordinary life with an ordinary wife and have an ordinary number of ordinary children and die an ordinary death, but well – life could pull a fast one on you.

Oh, how troublesome. He had spent a whole five minutes gawking at his wife like some hormonally-charged teenager. He needed to rush now.

Performing the seal for the Shadow Flicking Technique, he slid into the shadow of the nearest object and he started traveling from shadow to shadow. It required a lot less chakra than the Body Flicker Technique, and he could move ten times faster this way.

Just earlier in the day he had used it in the battle, and had been immediately aware of his son and his friend who had stepped on the shadow he was hiding in.

A few minutes later, and he arrived at the Academy. Swarms of parents were already crowding outside, and some of the novices had already finished with their tests. He could see the pink-haired Sakura, now Head of the Medical Assistance Squad, with her husband Sasuke. _Hmph. Pretty boy._

Hitomi was hugging her mother now, while her twin brother Ryuu was standing awkwardly at the side with his father. _Seems like they passed. But it should have been easy for them who are in the Uchiha clan._

Off to another side was the Hyuga clan. Shiro and Ayame could have been mistaken as twins, but they had been born ten months apart, though in the same year. Tenten's marriage to Neji had brought with her a powerful alliance to the Hyuga clan. Turned out that her family had been from a powerful clan in the Takumi village, which meant that the Hyuga clan would be receiving first rate ninja weapons for a while to come. The children were also a pair to look out for in the future.

Other Konoha clans were scattered around the area – there was Choji with his son, Shibi with the trademark Aburame sunglasses, and… oh, it was Takumi.

Shikamaru walked over to his son, who rolled his eyes at him.

"If you're here to judge in the examination, Dad, you've come here ten minutes too late. It's already over."

Oh, it would be troublesome. The head examiner, sleeping away the afternoon while the examination was going on? He would have to think of some good excuses.

"Uh, so how was it? The exam."

Takumi gave a noncommittal grunt.

"Oh, so you passed." Shikamaru tried to find something good to say. It was troublesome to think of nice stuff to say when congratulating people. "Good job, son."

"Yeah." Takumi grinned at him. "Thanks."

Then he spotted Matsuri.

He bowed. "Matsuri-sama."

She looked pleased to have found an acquaintance, and hobbled over to him on her crutches.

"Ah, Shikamaru-kun! No need to be so formal, we are in-laws! May I ask, where is Temari? The students had been left without their senseis who were injured far more severely than me during their kidnap, so I'm taking charge."

"She's asleep." He explained. "Lately she'd been doing a lot of paperwork late into the night, so could you please ask your husband to send some assistants over to help out? Wait – is that your son?"

The boy in question seemed to be the centre of attention of the group of Sand novices – Genin now.

"Yup, that's Satoru. He looks a lot like Gaara, doesn't he?"

Matsuri looked every inch the proud mother.

"Oh and about the assistants – I will tell Gaara for you." She turned her attention back to the Sand Genin. "Kids, let's go now, it's late!!"

"Yes, Matsuri-sama." They chorused as one.

Later, despite her initial protests, Shikamaru accompanied them back to the lodgings they had been provided. When he came out, Takumi was sitting on the steps to the entrance, chewing a bamboo shoot in his mouth.

They walked together, father and son, back to the house.

Back in his room, he pulled off his footwear, and made to go onto the bed. Temari suddenly sat up, and pushed him off. She put a forefinger and thumb to her nose. "Smelly feet, off the bed. Go and bathe."

He gazed at her from the floor. "I didn't know you were awake."

"Doesn't mean you can put your smelly feet on _my_ bed. Go and bathe!"

Shikamaru went to bathe.

When he came back, she was still waiting for him. He slid into bed, and she immediately put her arms around him, resting her head on his chest.

"Mmm… my very own _Shika-chan_!" She smiled into his chest.

He loved the girlish lilt to her voice whenever she spoke her nickname for him.

"Did you know that Takumi passed the Genin examinations with the highest score?"

When he received no answer, he pulled her off him, only to find her asleep.

Oh well. He pulled her back into his warm embrace, and smiled to himself.


	3. Spring Green

A/N: I welcome all reviews, so that I can improve my writing!! )

"青出于蓝而胜于蓝" –

A Chinese proverb – "The green which rises out of the blue is more magnificent than from whence it came from." – meaning that each successive generation will be better than the last.

--

Naruto sat facing the assembly of council elders and Jounin. The red and white bamboo hat representing his position as the Hokage rested heavily on his head today.

"So, would anyone like to contest the decision made by the council and I?"

A young Jounin raised her hand.

"We cannot send reconnaissance teams into Iwagakure territory just because we see a few ninja claiming to be from Iwagakure attempted to kidnap the Sand nin! We still haven't confirmed that they really are Iwa ninja! This is as good as proclaiming that we're at war with the Land of Earth!"

The council room burst into countless murmurs.

Naruto opened his mouth to say something, but held a restraining hand on his shoulder. Shikamaru looked down at him, and shook his head. "Let me convince her, and everyone else instead."

He pitched his voice so that everyone could hear him. "Oh? And is sending more than fifty raids a year an act of peace? Is attempting to kidnap the son of the Kazekage a gesture of goodwill?"

Shikamaru walked out to the front of the council room, back straight, and he exuded an aura of calmness and assurance.

"What we are planning to do now, is to determine whether Iwagakure plans to attack Konoha. We already know they have hostile intentions, so what we have to do now is to find out whether they have backing, how much resources they have, in order to prepare ourselves in case they _do_ choose to attack us." He paused. "We are not, definitely not, sending reconnaissance teams in preparation for a retaliatory assault on Iwagakure, instead, it is to prepare _in case_ of another similar attack on us – that, I believe, is the slight and yet vital difference between the two."

The young Jounin made as if to speak again, but Shikamaru continued.

"As for the identity of the would-be kidnappers, we have made considerable progress. We have identified the nephew of the Tsuchikage, who just happened to be killed by –" He looked sharply at the female Jounin. "One of your Genin charges, Halia."

"I understand, Shikamaru-sensei." She bowed.

Naruto stood up as well. "Well, if there are no further questions…"

Silence greeted his words.

"Then we'll adjourn this meeting, so that we can have the Genin meet up with their new senseis."

As the Jounin left the hall, Halia met her former sensei's eyes for a moment before turning away, and she too, left.

_Halia_, Shikamaru thought. _You must have been thinking of your father, who passed away during the Akatsuki war…_

--

"Children, get back to your seats. I shall now read out your assigned squads." Moegi said, a wide smile on her face.

"Hai, Moegi-sensei!" The new Genins replied.

She continued, reading out the names of the many Genin. By the time she got to Team 5, Takumi had already near fallen asleep. When was it going to be his turn?

As he rested his head on a propped hand, he took out his spider puppet, and played around with it. He had made tons of them with the "Building Puppets For Dummies" book Uncle Kankuro had given him for his twelfth birthday, but he still kept the rusty original, which he had repaired, as a keepsake.

"Team 6… Shibi Aburame… Kaede Suzuki…" Moegi-sensei announced.

Oh. The bug boy, and Kaede Suzuki… Hmm… He seemed to recall a violent redhead with a penchant for talking to plants. Yeah, that was it. _Whoever gets them in their team is definitely going to be weirded out._

"And… Takumi Nara."

Takumi jumped, and the puppet with him.

What. The. Heck. Takumi had thought that he would be getting into a team with Kazuki. He was stuck with the two quietest people in the class instead. Oh no…

"Your sensei is going to be Halia Sarutobi." Moegi said. "Next, Team 7. Shiro Hyuga and Hitomi Uchiha, you'll be teaming up with two Chuunins, instead of the usual lone Jounin, because we have a lack of Jounin sensei this year."

Well, that was weird. He had overheard his father talking to his mother about some secret mission, but he didn't expect so many Jounin to be sent out until Chuunin had to replace Jounin as sensei.

"Kazuki Uzumaki, Kira Hatake and Ayame Hyuga will be in Team 8 with Sasuke Uchiha as sensei."

Takumi's ears perked up at _that_. Three geniuses in one team? And with the legendary Uchiha clan leader as sensei! Kazuki with his mental prowess, together with Kira's high combat ability, and Ayame's excellent chakra control… and two Byakugan users in one team – this was definitely going to be one of the strongest contenders for the title of best rookie teams.

As Moegi-sensei rambled on and on for the rest of the teams, Takumi took out a slip of paper, and wrote: _Hey, this is Takumi, your new teammate. Nice to meet you._

He rolled it up into a small cylinder, and stuffed it into the puppet. _This is gonna be fun._

The spider puppet dropped to the floor, with two invisible chakra threads attached to its rear. It scuttled down the aisle, making its way towards the diminutive redhead at the front row, maneuvering its way through the maze of human and furniture legs. As it darted through Shibi's legs, however, the chakra string suddenly went limp, and the spider puppet became still. Someone had cut the chakra string… but that was impossible! He had perfected the art of making chakra threads finer than a single strand of hair!

Shibi Aburame picked the puppet up, and turned back to give him a slight smile. Takumi was stunned. _Well, at least I know now that the Aburame clan's destruction bugs can sense even minute amounts of chakra._

But it was ironic that a "spider" was caught by its "natural prey", the insects.

After Moegi-sensei dismissed the Genin, Takumi met up with Shibi and Kaede under the shade of the huge tree outside the academy. Shibi was standing upside down from a tree branch, while Kaede seemed to be stroking and whispering to the tree.

"Oi, why are you always talking to plants? Are you going cuckoo, or were you always like this?"

Shibi dropped to the ground.

"I think_you _must be the idiot, talking to her like that."

A retort bubbled halfway out of his mouth, but a pebble of a size that would fit snugly into his palm hit him in the stomach with such force that he was knocked over backwards. Oof. It had knocked all the wind out of him.

She walked over now, and gave him one helluva look. "Hell yeah, you don't mess around with people like me, duckling. I talk to plants because I am able to converse with them through my chakra."

Had she just called him _duckling_?

As he lay down on the ground beneath the tree, he could see the rays of sunlight peek through spaces in the tree cover, and one of them just happened to illuminate her face. Her hair was a fiery scarlet from the sunlight, and her eyes were a deep gray in colour. She wore a green shirt that laced up the front, albeit high enough only to reveal a little bit beneath her collarbone. It was matched with a short brown skirt that was slit up the side, and she also wore thick netted leggings that ended just above her knee.

He looked closer, and found that he could see a hint of her bellybutton under her shirt, which was cut to reveal a bit of her lower abdomen. Takumi moved down to her legs, but suddenly the object of his attention kicked him back down onto the ground. Had he sat up without realizing it?

"You need to exercise more. Anyway, our sensei wants to meet us on top of the Third Hokage's statue. We'll see you there too, after you've recovered."

"What d'ya mean after I've recovered? I'm fine now, aren't I?" He mumbled.

She stepped on his stomach, and lifted off into a jump that took her a few metres away.

"Not any more!" She hooted, and dashed off in the direction of the six huge faces that adorned the cliff wall of Konohagakure.

Shibi went off after her. "Cya."

What just happened? Had a girl just totally walked all over him? Wait… she_did_. Literally and figuratively. _Heck, did that really happen?_

He recalled a father-and-son talk he had with his dad on his birthday last year.

Dad had looked at him with a resigned expression after Mom whopped his arse for forgetting to buy candles for the birthday cake.

"Son, you turn twelve today, and are about to embark on a journey into the real world. And so, as your father, I feel like I've something to tell you, to help you in your life, y'know?"

Takumi had nodded.

"One most important thing about life, is… women. There are three things I have to tell you about them, and it is that they are troublesome, troublesome, troublesome. All they do is to create trouble for law-abiding men like us. Laws like buying candles for birthday cakes don't exist in this world, do they, eh?"

His dad had then slung an arm over his shoulder, and leaned close to whisper.

"Here's a trick I learnt about dealing with them. When you meet up with a troublesome woman, you've gotta show her you're as powerful as, or even more powerful than her, so that she feels that you are no pushover."

And _that_ worldly advice had stuck in his mind since then.

Kaede was bloody fit. And how was he ever going to show that he was more powerful than her? He doubted that he could even match up to her in terms of fighting.

Wait… that was something. It meant that he needed to be physically stronger – which in turn meant that he needed the legendary Might-Guy-style training, and fast.

It had occurred to him quite some time ago, that if he could outsmart his opponents to the extent that they couldn't even touch a hair on his head, he would never, ever have a need to train up his body. But then again, hadn't just now proven that he _couldn't _outsmart his opponent? He didn't even manage to see the stone coming until it had hit his stomach!

How troublesome… It wasn't like he hated exercise or anything, but he would have to spend _hours_ training, when he could have lay down on the comfortable green grass on top of a hill watching the clouds roll by.

Ah, that was the life.

Hmm… it seemed as though he had forgotten something. Had he?

He suddenly remembered that he needed to be on top of the Third Hokage's statue. Right _now_.

"What a drag…" He grumbled.

He dragged himself onto his feet, and brushed the dark brown soil from his clothes.

Takumi clambered onto the nearest rooftop, and started hopping to the next, and the next. He looked at his watch. It was ten minutes since he had gotten his ego bruised by Kaede. He was very late.

Minutes later, he made it, huffing and puffing and seriously out of breath.

His sensei and teammates were already waiting, and his sensei's foot was tapping impatiently.

"Well now,_there_ you are."

Takumi cringed.

"First day as a Genin, and already late?!" She glared murderously at him. "Well, go on, what are you waiting for? Sit down there with your teammates!"

He sat down there with his teammates.

"Now, my name is Halia Sarutobi. This is my first time taking a Genin team, after my recent promotion to Jounin, so I'd like to be able to have a good start. I fold origami as a pastime. For example –"

She took out three pieces of origami paper, and with the most skilful hands Takumi had ever seen, folded three shapes under a minute. She then threw them one each.

Shibi seemed to have gotten a bug, which looked surprisingly similar to his destruction bugs, while Kaede seemed to have gotten a paper crane, which she was fawning over at the moment. And he… got a paper pig's head.

Oh well. It wasn't like he expected much, anyway.

"So I'd like all of you to introduce yourselves, and your hobbies. Just so that I can know you better."

Shibi raised his hand.

"I'd like to go first, so that I can establish my place in the team first. I'm Shibi, from the Aburame clan. I try to talk only when I have something constructive to say."

Halia-sensei raised her eyebrow. "Oh? Hmm… how about you, Kaede?"

"I'm Kaede Suzuki, and I like gardening a lot!"

_Typical._ Takumi thought.

She then turned to him.

"You," she grunted.

It was more of an accusation of god-knows-what, than a question, really. He tried his best to smile naturally, which seemed to piss her off more than ever, and said, "My name is Takumi Nara. I play Shogi and Go."

Halia raised her eyebrow. "Oh? You don't look like the type who plays intellectual games, you know, you look more like someone who stares blankly at clouds."

Takumi suddenly let loose a loud laugh, and it rang vibrantly in the open space.

"May I ask, what is so funny?"

_Uh-oh_._She looks like she's gonna kill someone again._

He tried to stop laughing, but instead, he choked, and it was awhile before he could finally speak. He waved dismissively.

"Urhmm… It's nothing, nothing."

Halia-sensei looked suspiciously at him for a moment, but then she abruptly turned back to face all three of them. "Yes, now that we are done with the introductions, we'll have a little test to gauge your standard."

Kaede looked worried. "A – a test, Halia-sensei? Didn't we already pass the Genin examinations?"

Halia chuckled.

"That still doesn't measure your ability on the field – it only tests your knowledge of ninja ways and some basic jutsu. That's why it has been a long-upheld Konoha tradition to give every Genin team a test before inducting them in the ways of the ninja."

She retrieved a bell from her side-holster, and hung it on her belt.

"Your mission for every one of you is to obtain this bell from my body. As you can see, there is only one bell, and therefore only one of you can pass this test. The winner gets to have dinner, while the losers have to clean up the Academy storeroom. And _Takumi_, since you were late, you don't get any dinner at all, even if you do get the bell, which I highly doubt will happen."

The three of them – yes even the stoic Shibi – wailed.

"But sensei –"

"No buts," Halia-sensei said firmly. "And we will start at the forest, since we won't be wanting to destroy the Hokages' faces. C'mon now."

She disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Even though Takumi tried as hard as he could, he found to his utter dismay that his Body Flicker was severely lacking (yes, there was no question that his body was the one to blame), and that he could not keep up with even his fellow Genin.

_How troublesome…_ He groaned. His legs were killing him. Perhaps it was really time to train up.

By the time he got to the clearing they were at, they were again waiting for him.

"You're going to die when we're being chased by enemy ninja," Halia-sensei said, amused.

"Okay we'll start now! 321 GO!!!"

Three kunai were sent flashing in their directions. While Kaede and Shibi flicked away immediately, Takumi took a far longer time to respond, and was nearly hit by the kunai before he jumped up into the nearest tree and then flicked away to the ground.

_What the hell?_ She had just announced it in rapid-burst mode, without even giving him time to prepare! He had also just gotten here!

She laughed into the trees. "Remember that only the winner gets dinner!"

Takumi peeked through the undergrowth. Halia-sensei seemed to be meditating. Where was Shibi and Kaede? _They are probably not working together_, he mused. _Since only one person gets to win. _If_ there is a winner._

_Think, think_. He thought. _How could he get the bell?_

Halia-sensei's words rang in his mind. _Even if you do get the bell, which I highly doubt will happen._

He then recalled his earlier embarrassment by Kaede.

_Grr… I'm gonna show 'em_.

Using the Shadow Imitation Technique, he elongated his shadow… which merged with the shadows of the trees all around to – it nearly reached her! He was going to have to… yes! He created a replica of himself (not a shadow clone, mind you! He was still a Genin!) in front of her, and it lunged at her. Halia-sensei seemed to teleport away – gosh, was she fast! – And a paper shuriken flashed through his clone, which dissipated into thin air. _She had used a paper shuriken? Was she joking, or had she already known that it was just a clone?_

But she was caught! Her body stance immediately matched his. Takumi laughed aloud – it had been so easy!

However, in the next moment, a kunai was at his throat, and the immobilized "Halia-sensei" puffed out of existence. _Ah, so it was a shadow clone. Just like the Iwa ninja…_

"You'd think that Genins should realize that ninjas do not, _ever_, meditate in the presence of enemies. But I suppose for your case… Never mind, just remember that ninjas always stay alert, at all times," Halia-sensei whispered into his ear.

Takumi made as if to slash himself on the kunai, and Halia-sensei gasped, and jerked it away.

"What, are you crazy?" She yelled.

He jumped backwards, and threw his own kunai at her. "Hehe."

She flipped backward like a gymnast, and it passed just under her body. Vines suddenly sprouted out of the ground to break her fall – wait, they grew around her, and she was trapped in a mass of rapidly constricting vines.

Takumi used the Body Flicker Technique to jump away, but near enough to Halia-sensei just in case he had a chance to steal the bell.

She seemed to have taken out yet another paper shuriken but it looked like this one had kanji written on them. A folded explosive seal?

She slammed it into the vines and it pierced through almost entirely. How had paper managed to cut through the thick vines? And it was going to – the vines, and the imprisoned Halia-sensei blew up in a massive explosion.

In the ensuing smoke, he saw a flash of black hair travel to another tree, and Kaede was kicked out unceremoniously. So it had been another shadow clone.

"You don't use something like that on me, Kaede," she smiled. "Just for pure enjoyment's sake, I shall use my mother's favourite jutsu on you. It might seem pretty familiar to you, but it's of a totally different sort altogether. Demonic Illusion: Tree Bind Death!"

Thick vines sprouted out of the ground again, but this time, it had a malevolence to it. They wrapped themselves around Kaede as though about to devour her, and when they were done, Kaede was so tightly wrapped up only her head was visible.

_It's a genjutsu,_ Takumi thought. _So that means that it only imprisons her mentally… And yourself too, idiot! You wouldn't also be seeing the genjutsu otherwise!_

How could genjutsu be so powerful as to affect even those not directly in its range of effect?

The moment he saw Shibi move, Takumi flicked back near where Kaede was frantically thrashing about. The destruction bugs swarmed around Halia-sensei who set off a small sparkler, which fizzed and burnt bugs as she swung it around, but more and more kept coming until she was finally swamped.

Shibi charged at her, and Takumi followed, determined to be the one getting hold of the bell. He was gonna show them.

When they reached her together, she took advantage of their thrashing and frantic attempts to seize the prize, and kicked them both in the chest simultaneously. As she was still in the air, Takumi grasped her leg as it left his chest, and _pulled_.

She fell to the ground on her back, and he reached for the bell under the numerous insects crawling all over her body… and bruised his fingers against a thick log. She had used the Substitution Jutsu.

Halia-sensei then emerged from the trees, laughing.

"Not bad… though none of you managed to get the bell in the end, I must say that you have done quite well. We'll end here."

Kaede, seemingly freed from the genjutsu, wailed, "But… but Halia-sensei, how about our dinner?"

Halia-sensei shrugged. "Takumi gets it, since he was the closest, but he doesn't get to eat it either."

"Here you go, Takumi," she said in a suspiciously jovial voice. "I need to go away for awhile to run an errand. Remember, Takumi, you are only allowed to devour it spiritually. Any funny business, I'll get you for it, understand?"

He nodded. She passed a packet of food to Takumi.

"Remember, Takumi, no touching of the food!" She warned.

When Halia-sensei left, Takumi flung the packet of food down to the ground.

"What a stupid joke to crack on us. I have the food, yet I can't eat it? Is it supposed to be some kind of test for mental endurance?" he complained.

He flopped down next to it.

"Mmm… it smells great…" Kaede leaned close and sighed. Her face turned beet red as her stomach gave a loud rumble.

Shibi sat down next to Takumi. "Yeah, and it smells like some great chicken teriyaki from here."

Seconds ticked by, and it seemed an eternity before Kaede finally suggested tentatively. "Could me and Shibi take a bite? She only mentioned that you –" she pointed to Takumi. "Can't eat it."

"Did she?" He asked. "I thought she mentioned that only winners get to eat it? Though I won, she also prohibited me from eating it because I was late."

She pouted. "What do you think she'll do to us if we ate it?"

"Kill us, most probably." Takumi said.

Seeing Kaede's reaction, he held his hands up in placation. "No, I was joking!"

Shibi turned to them. "We will most probably be stripped of our Genin rank, because of insubordination."

"But that doesn't mean that they can treat us like animals? Not giving us dinner is inhumane!"

Takumi agreed. "Yeah. Let's just eat. I don't care if I become a novice again."

He opened the packet of food and dug in hungrily. Kaede soon followed. When they were about halfway through, Takumi lifted his head from the food.

"Hey, Shibi, why don't you join us? She'll screw all of us anyway, even if you don't join in."

He looked over at them hesitantly, but he continued sitting there like a statue.

"Oh, fine. Do whatever you want."

Takumi turned back to eating. It was a while before Shibi joined them.

--

Halia was watching in the trees. She smiled to herself as she saw her team of Genin hungrily wolfing down the food together.

It seemed the ploy had worked. It was a noble tradition started by the Copy Ninja Kakashi to initiate new Genins, and her very own Shikamaru-sensei had used it on her as well, years ago.

But she had nearly screwed up. Fighting with clones was rather straining on the chakra, and when Takumi grabbed her leg, she had been quite surprised. Well, that was an understatement. She had thought he was a useless nobody, but it seemed that he had the smarts too, like his dad. He had the ability to think on his feet. And he played Shogi and Go too.

_Takumi's a chip off the old block_, she thought.

She saw that they had finally finished their meal.

It was awesome that her team had bonded rather well, but there was still hell to pay for disobeying her. Hehe.

--

_Late snow__  
__On the bamboo grove -__  
__The mind soaring._

The leaves of the bamboo were a refreshing green in colour, and the blazing scarlet of the setting sun made a beautiful background. Sai had just finished painting.

His sensitive ears picked up the sounds of running feet, and he espied three small figures frantically scurrying up the road.

_Time for a new painting._ He thought. _But there is still something lacking in this one._

He grabbed his brush, and dipped it lightly in black paint.

**The faint outlines of three black figures were quickly painted against the bamboo forest on the canvas. He had, after some thinking, decided on the name for the painting. **

_It will be… "Spring Green"._


End file.
